Alien Shadow vol 1 The Failed Mission
by mike loeven
Summary: Cassandra Miller was genetically altered by a hive of xenomorphs. with any hope of a normal life gone, she becomes a freelancer intent on finding a way of restoring her shattered life along with her humanity.
1. Sensor Trouble

**((UPDATE NOTICE)) Ok i am happy to inform you that that my severe case of writers block is over. After I found that it was too big to move I rented out ((at great expense)) one of those tunnel boring machines to drill a highway tunnel through and I am happy to announce it has just emerged from the other side and the new tunnel is stable for now the flow of ideas can continue again. A few changes in the overall layout of the chapters at the bottom of each page i have updated the author's comments and added some new dialogue in one or two chapters to fix continuity with some of the new chapters i am working on and will be finished shortly look for the new addition to volume 2 soon but it is recommended you re read volume one to catch up on the continuity changes. Volume 2 hasn't been bumped recently so if it is not next to this story in the list it can be found here.**

**http://www. fanfiction .net/s/2970939/1/Alien_Shadow_vol_2_Rough_Childhood**

**((you'll need to enter this url manually since i needed to add spaces to keep fanfiction's document parser from eating my urls as i believe fanfiction .net is engaging in illegal censorship to keep people from posting links between stories either that or their html parser is abnormally retarded))**

i don't own aliens, predator, star wars, or any other movie or book i used as a reference. any idea that you major corporations think is yours you can keep i am not making a profit and am simply having fun

**OK before you start reading i would like to ask that you take the time to provide me with feed back, and point out any errors that you see.**

**Also, i marked this story as complete because i will not be adding any more chapters. i am still going to edit and change things based on the reviews and proof readings i get.**

**HELP I NEED PROOF READERS**

also, please look carefully at the different ways that the characters express themselves. under special circumstances there will be symbols inside of the quotation mark representing the different modes of communication for example take the word hello.

"hello" this is normal speech

"((hello))" this means the character is thinking and no one else hears

"+hello+" this means the character is talking using telepathy

"HELLO" All caps means yelling

"any phrase with only  
ONE or TWO words in ALL CAPS means emphasis on those words or phrases"

Special thanks goes to Yincira for helping me edit and for her expertise on the subject of xeno-human hybrids. I would also like to thank my parents for continually encouraging me to write down my ideas.

**Nothing new in this update just some punctuation and spelling fixes in the first 2 chapters**

**Chapter 1 **

**Sensor Trouble**

Outside the window it was silent. Silent and cold, as it always is in deep space. Private First Class John Saunders was with the tech crew as they went over the sensor arrays. "What's this, the 80th time this month we've checked the damn Thing, or was it the 10th."

"Actually sir, it is the 24.345534933575820504842174- bleeee bleeee bloop chhckchkkchcchhhhchchk S-ir-, th- squeechchchk th- that ssschhh …………………. Voice circuitry reset successful. Sir, you could have damaged my circuitry." Said RD-21x4 as he struggled to get his treads back on the ground. After he was knocked over by a very annoyed looking John Saunders.

"First of all, you are a maintenance droid, Maintenance droids are specifically designed to survive large falling objects, hazardous chemicals, high voltage shocks, and any other foreseeable hazard you can encounter during repair work." Began lecturing the private, too annoyed to remember that the personality programming of most droids is hardwired into their circuitry, and therefor unchangeable.

"Yes sir but –" Started the droid, trying to give his report.

"Second of all that was a rhetorical question. I didn't need an answer" Continued John promptly cutting him off.

"Understood but I thin-" Continued the droid, trying in vain to get a few words in.

"Third, you know I hate it when you calculate numbers to god only knows how many decimal-"

"24 decimal places si-" The droid replied.

"Fourth, I don't care" Said John cutting him off again.

"Sir will let me give yo-" The droid muttered. Noticing that the portion of his circuitry that simulated exasperation was becoming dangerously over-clocked.

"Fifth, just shut up and give me the report" Continued John, determined not to let the droid talk.

"Yes I was just about to-," Said RD-21x4 changing his voice setting to a more exasperated one. The temperature in his emotional simulation circuitry was rising rapidly, despite him setting his liquid nitrogen cooling system to maximum.

"Don't give me that attitude, just give me report" Said John almost screaming

The droid knew he was about to overheat and fry his emotion circuits if he continued listening. At this analysis, RD-21x4 turned off his audio receptors and went into standby mode. After about 10 minutes, he detected that John's mouth had stopped moving, and began his report.

"Reports indicate no damage and or faulty components to the sensor arrays." The droid began "Might I suggest checking the cables that lead up to the bridge. Shorts or electromagnetic disturbances in the data feed could be causing the disturbance…. Or, you could simply ignore the false proximity alerts and get the system replaced when we reach the outpost dock." concluded the droid.

"I suppose we could ignore them but what bothers me is that we have never had this problem before we picked up that shipment from Gencor. They couldn't even tell the captain what it was. The container is even magnetically scrambled and lead lined so we can't scan it."

"I'm sure it is just another fine Gencor product in development, nothing to worry about. After all Gencor DID build me. My model was highly classified during the development stages" Began the droid.

"Well, if you are in any way what I can expect from Gencor in terms of user friendly equipment." Muttered John. "Than I guarantee whatever is in that container is about as user friendly as a prototype bomb, or maybe a death ray"

"You know I am not programmed to understand sarcasm sir" RD-21x4 replied.

"Just return to your recharge station and shut down" said a thoroughly exhausted and frankly pissed off Private Saunders.

"The representatives at Gencor would like to thank you for choosing the RD deep space repair drone. We hope you have a nice day" began the droid playing his sponsor message.

"((Remember deep calming breaths)) ((just think of your happy place))" thought John as he walked away from the droid who proceeded to follow him, playing a holographic add for a new Gencor product.

"((This is what you get for having a father who lets his sponsors equip his ship))" thought John. He slung his pulse rifle back over his shoulder, and looked at the now silent droid as it sped away from where john's stun round had impacted the deck moments earlier. "((thank god the self preservation circuits override the basic programming))" snickered John as he watched the little sparks of blue lightning that were still radiating outward from the dart dance across the deck.

John allowed himself a smirk as his frustration evaporated "Now if only that trick would work on people without ending up in a lawsuit" laughed John as he returned to the bridge to check the sensor readings again.

Captain Don S. Saunders shook his head as he watched his son fire off a shot at one of the maintenance droids. "I can't believe I let her talk me into giving my son that promotion, let alone making me pull all those strings to get him stationed on my ship." Said an exasperated captain to the ship's A.I. computer, S.A.R.A.H. The name stood for something, but he had never bothered to read the owners manual or look up the meaning.

"If you want I can space him for you. That entire level is currently empty except for your son and the atmosphere can be easily evacuated. All I need to do is initiate the emergency fire containment protocol."

"He may be a loose cannon and frankly a major liability but he is still my son."

"Than have the MPs detain him for the remainder of the voyage and ship him back home after we dock"

"Lauren would never forgive me for quote on quote destroying his dreams."

"Since when did you let you're personal life interfere with your job." Replied Sarah "Honestly, I don't think your wife will be upset after you show her that little holocam recording."

"Oh by the way I forgot to record it."

"Don't worry it is still in the file cache, would you like me to recover it?"

"Yes" replied the captain "and can you send it to my wife along with the official record of everything he has done in the past month. Inform her that I've been trying to be as patient as I can, but if there is one more incident she can expect John to be on the next shuttle home."

"I have just sent the letter ……" replied the computer. "By the way, the transfer was 7 terabytes. 3 over our monthly limit on bandwidth. Stellar Com is incurring a 2000 credit overage fine."

"You can't be serious, I knew he screwed up a lot but a record that large, it would have to be larger than every book in the entire colonial national library" gasped a shocked captain.

"Actually, I'm not serious. You keep forgetting that I am an AI system, more than capable of a sense of humor."

John looked stupidly at the sensor display. "((There it is again))" he thought, staring at the fuzzy blip on the proximity sensor. "Sarah get me a visual readout of the target coordinates and train all readings on the area," he said. Even though he knew exactly what the computer would find.

"No anomalies detected" came the usual response "If there was really something following us I doubt that even the most sophisticated computer guidance system would be able to keep a ship at the exact Same distance, angle, and speed, as to appear in the Same spot every time for 3 weeks." Sarah said "For that to happen, it would have to be being towed, and our scanners would have detected any type of magnetic or force grapple attached to the hull"

"Thank you Sarah" replied John

"Oh by the way" added the computer "your father saw that little display with repair droid this after noon"

"Oh great," John muttered "I thought he wasn't monitoring the sensor bays anymore"

"He's not," replied Sarah "He set the cameras to monitor you. And He told me to inform you that one more loss of temper and you are being sent home. He has already informed your mother."

John was quickly getting frustrated by the fact that he couldn't find anything wrong with the sensors. The trouble with the proximity sensor had started right after a cargo stop at the Alpha Draconis Star port. His father's ship, The military transport NCNF-Balder, was named after the invincible Norse god. The name came from the ship's impeccable record of never losing a single credit's worth of cargo. Despite numerous pirate attacks. It was no surprise that they were hired by the Gencor Corporation to transport a valuable and highly classified cargo to the colonial militia high security research lab on Gamma Prime. The cargo was nothing more than a large container typical of those used by Gencor. The first unsettling thing the crew noticed about the container, was the fact that it was hooked up to the cryo fluid feed line. The crew knew this meant one of 2 things. A, the container was holding biological specimens. Or B the container was holding extremely volatile chemicals. John and his father had good reason to be nervous about the container considering several incidents in the past few years. Other ships carrying top secret Gencor shipments had a habit of either blowing up having the crew get wiped out by an escaped super virus, or be attacked by hunter clans wanting their stolen technology back. All of the secrecy about the shipment along with knowledge of frequent accidents made the trip very tense to begin with. Now with a faulty proximity sensor. they could have an entire colonial armada sneak up on them and they would never notice.

"((Well at least we get 10 million credits for this))" thought John as he stared at the container.

**((Author Comments))**

**Ok ASV1 is getting a overhaul I have been tearing my hair out over some continuity errors and atrocities committed against spelling and grammar that may well land me in front of a international war crimes tribunal :P but i have added a few new lines of text to one or 2 chapters in this story all together so it is worth re reading. ((chapter last updated 2/11/2009))**


	2. Cloak and Dagger Tactics

**Chapter 2 **

**Cloak and Dagger tactics **

Sitting in her cloaked ship just out of sensor range of the Balder, The freelance mercenary Cassandra Miller was quickly becoming impatient. To think she had spend so much time rigging that grav field buoy to the hull as to make it look like the proximity sensor was malfunctioning. She had even gone out of her way to attach it with industrial liquid weld glue so the hull sensors couldn't detect it. Out of all the operations she had ever planned, this was the only one where the ships crew didn't follow standard operating procedures. Most ship crews when dealing with malfunctioning sensors shut down the faulty ones and shift power to the other sensor arrays to compensate. For some reason however, this crew wasn't disabling their proximity sensors. All the expensive scramblers and cloaking devices she had installed not only hid the ship from the naked eye but also blocked almost any sensor probe and masked all emissions from detection. They all had one major flaw. The flaw was that the ship still existed in real space, still had mass, and there for a gravity distortion. Proximity sensors just happened to be a passive system that detects gravitational distortions from passing objects.

"So much for the repairs" said John thoroughly defeated "Sarah, assuming the sensor is working according to the diagnostics, what are possible explanations for the anomaly" John asked

"Well there is a one in a million chance that some debris from the trash jettisoning system have gotten caught in the main engines turbulence eddy." Replied the computer. "We could be simply dragging it in our wake. That would explain why the reading hasn't changed orientation to the ship."

"Get one of the EVA deep space exosuits charged I want to take a look," snapped John "and Sarah"

"Yes John"

"Turn off the proximity sensors I don't want my father to know I am using a 50 thousand credit piece of machinery just to go looking for trash"

"Done" came the reply

The display beeped rousing Cassandra from her nap. "((Finally,))" she thought "((The sensors are off. I'm all clear))" She punched the afterburners and began to close in on the Balder. "At last,……My nightmare is nearly over" she whispered to herself as she snapped together the pieces of her custom self-contained combat armor. She began checking every weapon, life support, and sensor system to make sure it worked.

" Air lock depressurization complete. Opening outer doors" Said Sarah through John's headset.

"Ok Sarah" said John as he turned off the mech's feet magnets and ignited the suit's small twin ion engines. John had little trouble flying the deep space exosuit. After all, basic mech piloting was part of basic training.

John was surprised however, to see that the mech's proximity sensor showed not only the mysterious blip from the main sensors, but also a small fast moving one.

"((Probably just a small meteor))". he thought "((no human could survive that speed, and it hasn't changed course at all))"

"SHIT" snarled Cassandra as her small scout ship came within visual range of the transport.

Cassandra watched in dismay and horror as the small deep space mech found and proceeded to remove the grav buoy. It was a race against time now.

"Sarah, what the hell is this thing" John asked as he scanned the small metal sphere he had found glued to the hull.

"It appears to be a grav buoy. The design is similar to the GWP-MK4 model that they use to mark the approaches to docking stations." Began the computer finishing her data anylsis "This one appears to be on overload and is projecting a much stronger field than normal. It is defiantly the cause of the proximity sensors malfunction. I speculate that that was its intended function."

"Intended function? " asked John

"Obviously whoever installed it didn't want it found" Sarah replied sounding worried "Seeing as it was attached with industrial liquid weld glue, whoever did this must also have very good intelligence. Its the only they could have known that my hull surface scanners can only detect magnetic and force grapples. In all, it would appear as though someone didn't want our sensors functional and tried to pass it off as a malfunction. I suggest immediate reactivation of the main proximity sensor squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee " John jerked as the sound of audio feedback assaulted his ears.

Suddenly, and to his horror, John noticed that the words radio jamming detected appeared on his display. At exactly the same time, the small fast moving sensor dot he had passed off as a small meteoroid changed course and began accelerating directly towards the ship. John armed the small cutting laser knowing full well that it probably wouldn't be able to damage whatever the thing was, if it was anything more heavily armed than a remote spy drone.

"Crap" breathed Cassandra as she saw the bright white cutting beam blaze past the cockpit window "I knew those suits had proxy sensors."

"Damn I missed and the laser's power cells are drained," screamed John as he punched the emergency afterburners and raced back toward the air lock

"I don't think so," said Cassandra smirking "lets see how you like this" she said pushing a button on her ship's console.

John was startled by a low humming sound and looked down only to see a small display on the grav buoy the mech was holding light up and display the words** "warning gravity field collapse emanate engage magnetic shielding now"**. John had seen enough mishaps to know what this meant. If you cut power to a grav buoy without cycling it down, the gravitational field's collapse, even though it was very weak, would still produce a large electromagnetic pulse. He reached to the emergency power breaker…. too late, the mech's systems died with a sizzling and sparking sound just as his hand reached the switch.

"That ought to keep him busy long enough for me to get in?" breathed Cassandra in relief." She had heard enough rumors about the transport to know that although it looked run down the armor was very thick and it was armed to the teeth with concealed weaponry. She shuddered to think what would have happened if the mech pilot had made it to the ship and activated the defenses.

"No No No Dammit" screamed John as he toggled the main power breaker trying to restart the suit. But he knew that it was fried. "Sarah…. come in Sarah … Father… ANYONE " he yelled into the emergency transponder only to receive the screech of signal jamming in return. The emergency systems were still working, but he knew he would not be able to get to the ship before the attacker on just the backup maneuvering jets.

"Captain" said Sarah "we are detecting a radio jamming signal and a new proximity sensor reading is coming in. it appears as though we were being followed by a stealth vessel unknown configuration and origin"

"Than open fire and destroy it," commanded captain Saunders

"Unable to comply… that order violates my friendly fire protocols" replied Sarah

"What do you mean?" shouted the captain

"Your son and I believed that the sensor array was detecting debris in our wake so he took a mech and went to check it out. He found a grav buoy attached to the hull and before he could return to the ship I lost contact." Stated the computer "If I fire the main guns now the average chance of hitting John is 67 percent. my friendly fire protocols only allow main weapon fire if the chance of causing friendly casualties is under 10 percent. Do you wish to use your emergency override captain?"

"dammit " roared the captain "Sarah wake all of the marines from cryo and tell them to prepare to be boarded." He knew that the marines were only a bunch of new recruits being transferred for advanced weapons training at the research facility. In other words, they were disposable personnel that the scientists could use to test their new weapons. No use in worrying about losing good solders when a prototype explodes. "((at least they are better than nothing and my good friend victor should be able to keep them in line))" he thought. "Activate intruder suppression systems and order all active crew to safe locations seal off the cryo rooms to protect the passengers. And Sarah, I am giving you full control of the sensors and tractor beams. See if you can find my son"

"Affirmative"

Well i have alot more of the story done and you can expect the next update in about 2 - 3 days after i finish editing please give me feedback 


	3. Prepare to Repel Borders

**Chapter 3**

**Prepare to Repel Boarders**

Colonel Victor Antonov was ripped out of a very good dream as the cryo dorm initiated the revival process. These new models were a lot better than the ones he used when he was first transferred between systems as a lieutenant. The old models left you with horrible freezer burn, and you needed hourly injections of cryostim for 2 days after being defrosted. Now, the technology had advanced to the point where the dorm raised the entire body temperature to normal in less than a second defrosting you so quickly your body didn't even suffer hypothermia when you woke up. Victor yawned and looked up only to see a very distressed looking Captain Saunders. He immediately knew something was wrong and snapped his head up to look at the cryo display. It said timer deactivated emergency revival procedure complete, and also that it had only been about a month since the trip began.

"Colonel can you here me" said the captain

"Surprisingly I can" replied the colonel "these new cryo dorms are the best. I can hear fine, my vision working, not even blurred. The older models where horrible, I came out of them blind and deaf for about a week seeing as the fluid in my eyes and ears didn't melt quickly enough."

"There is no time for small talk victor" snapped the captain I need you and your trainees suited up and prepared to repel boarders."

"WHAT!!" Victor blurted out

"You heard me get your men suited up and ready we are being attacked"

"Captain these are new recruits not trained marines they haven't even finished basic let alone seen combat like I have" replied victor

"Unfortunately your trainees are all we have got"

"And I thought I had retired from all of this crap" victor said "I finally get transferred from the first response unit to a nice quiet desk job training recruits. I knew it was too good to be true. Now I am stuck in a freighter with untrained, inexperienced subordinates, and we don't even know what we are up against"

"I understand but if you don't try to do something"

"I understand Don " said victor proceeding to the armory.

Victor stared into the ships armory looking very disappointed "what kind of armory is this" he yelled looking through the stacks of boxes "stun rounds, stun rounds….. stun rounds….. oh, and what do we have here…. Let me guess MORE STUN ROUNDS… where the hell are the armor piercing rounds, the flamers the frag grenades."

"actually sir," said the nervous crewman " we do have grenades

"really, what kind" said the colonel sarcastically " the kind that explode confetti and ticker tape"

"no we have shock, goop, and flash bang"

"In other words stun grenades, glue bombs, and firecrackers," said the exasperated colonel "and I assume that your knifes have rubber blades that retract when you stab someone"

"Actually sir we have laser sharpened diamond edged blades with build in ultrasonic vibration generator they can cut a xeno in half with one swipe"

"Let me rephrase the question" said victor "where do you keep the weapons that you use to kill things with"

"do you have authorization from the captai arrkkrkrrar" he gurgled as victor lost his patience and grabbed the ensign by the throat.

"Ill ask you one more time nice and slow so your little brain can understand me w-e-r-e … a-r-e … t-h-e… s-t-a-n-d-a-r-d … w-e-a-p "

"COLONEL" shouted the captain who had just happened to be walking by "PUT HIM DOWN NOW!!!!, JESUS ARE YOU MAD?"

"Mad?" Victor asked looking over at the captain as though nothing was wrong despite the squirming ensign in his grip who's feet were now several inches off the ground and whose face had begun to turn purple from lack of air. "No i am not mad ensigns just piss me off now would you care to tell me why the man in charge of the armory is telling me he doesn't know where the standard weapons are stored?"

The captains face was blank as he coldly replied "he didn't know where standard weapons are because we don't have any on this ship. it is a cargo transport not an navel drop-ship. Any weapons that can accidentally puncture the hull are prohibited" said the captain "I am sorry I didn't plan on this happening. Just take what you can and try to keep the ship in one piece"

"lets just hope the stun rounds work"

"they should but we haven't checked the charges for a while" replied the captain as he left the room

"colonel sir" said the ensign managing to stand up "I am sure the stun rounds work I just checked the charge meters on all of the clips

"Ok since you are so fond of stun rounds you can test them for me" said victor smiling

"sir I don't under stand what you u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-aaaahhhhhhhh"

The ensign never finished his sentence as victor fired. "well what do you know... they do still work" said victor as he watched the twitching ensign fall to the floor, little blue electrical bolts arcing across his body. "They're not much but ill make due… thanks for your help" said victor as he stepped over the unconscious but still twitching ensign

"Ok men consider this your first mission" said victor as he paced back and fourth in front of the airlock "the Balder is about to be boarded at any moment presumably by hostiles. Now before they dock, I want you all to know to expect anything. Can anyone tell me the best strategy against a hunter?" he looked around the room at the recruits "No one…" Victor shook his head "((hopeless utterly hopeless. the whole lot of them))" the thought. "Alright maggots listen up. The first step is to not give them the chance to get past the first line. If they manage that and we lose them in the ship they will be free to take us down at their leisure" began victor "ok next question what is a code XI5 and how do you deal with it" victor looked around again but this time he saw a hand "Yes Greg you know"

"Sir, A code XI5 is also called the lazy man's attack. It consists of loading a remote spy drone with Xenomorph drones that have been implanted with small self destruct bombs" said the marine "the attackers simply remotely dock the drone ship, release the xenos, and wait for the crew to be killed. After all human life signs have disappeared, the actual attacking force detonates the bombs in the heads of the xenos by remote and proceeds to dock their ship."

"and how do you deal with such an attack?"

"Actually it is much easier to deal with than you think" replied the marine " all you do is wait for the ship to dock than before they can break through the inner door flood the airlock with XTR-47 gas or as it is commonly known, industrial grade xenocide."

"Thank you Greg" said victor "Now for the rest of you, I expect you to pay more attention during training sessions in the future. Now lets get back to hunters. How do you disrupt their cloaking devices?" to victors surprise about half raised their hands. "Rebecca name 3 ways this can be accomplished"

"Sir exposure to water or large amounts of steam will disrupt the cloak briefly. Also you can hit them with a TAG round and use your helmets HUD to track the hunter by the tags radiation signature. Lastly, shock grenades and high energy magnetic fields can either fry or disrupt the power supply rendering the hunter visible."

"good" said victor " I assume you all know how to deal with space pirates and other human attackers."

"Sir yes Sir" all of the marines replied at once

"ok, now than, find cover and get in positions. The sensor arrays indicate that the ship will be docking in less than 5 minutes" yelled victor " make sure your helmets are securely locked. I am going to depressurize decks 10 – 16. Whoever they are, they are probably wearing self-contained suits. But who knows, we could get lucky. "

In the boarding tube connecting Cassandra's ship to the Balder's airlock she was grinning this was actually going to be interesting normally her targets never even put up a fight they simply woke with concussions a few hours later not even knowing happened. But this, this was going to be harder. Cassandra ignited her blade's plasma cutter and proceeded to cut through the 6 inches of reinforced armor plating like it was paper. Cassandra activated the armor's cloaking device. She had taken it off of a lone Yautja she had killed a few years back after. One of her harder jobs as she remembered, but it ended up netting her 10 million credits from the grateful colony. In fact, the job had originally been 5 million to find and despose of an unknown serial killer who was believed to be responsible for 20 violent deaths within a 2-week period. When her employers found out that not only was a hunter responsible for the murders. But that she alone had taken him down. They doubled her pay on the spot. Although to her, the cloaking device and parts from the mask's scanner suite were more useful to her than the money. The plasma caster had also yielded an array of focusing coils that she used to double the range on her already long range CPPR or Charged Particle Projection Rifle.


	4. Shit Hits the Ion Turbine

**Chapter 4**

**Shit Hits The Ion Turbine**

Victor was very puzzled and a little unnerved at what he saw. As he raised his pulse rifle to the airlock and watched the smoking door fall to the ground. he noticed that the air lock appeared to be empty. "HUNTERS" victor yelled as he threw a shock grenade into the tube. Victor waited until the sparks had died down but still nothing had appeared. "One of you go check the ship" he commanded

"Sir" said one of the conscripts a few moments later after returning from the docked ship "it appears to be designed for manned operation but I can't find any evidence of human habitation it might be a robot spy drone or somethaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh" his report turned into a scream as he was flung across the room and landed unconscious by the wall

At once, all hell broke loose in the airlock staging room as the inexperienced marines panicked and began shooting randomly at the walls and shadows and eventually at each other. Cassandra waited until only 2 marines were left standing among which was their commanding officer judging by all the stripes and medals on this combat suit. Cassandra stifled a laugh at this pathetic display she had jumped out of the tube and right over the marines heads before the door even hit the floor they were so focused on the door that they didn't even hear her. "((to think these are the famous colonial marines. the force who has protected humanity for years, who have been known to be able to wipe out entire hives of xenomorphs and to go against hunters and win. To think, I didn't have to do a thing))" she thought as she daftly knocked out the remaining marines. On her way out, she caught a glimpse of one of the marine's pulse rifles and laughed. It turned out that she didn't even need the cloaking device. the pulse rifles were all loaded with stun rounds which her armor could have easily deflected. "at least they didn't actually kill each other with their incompetence " she muttered as she proceeded into the cargo bay.

Victor stood up almost immediately after feigning being hit. He looked to the door only to catch a flash of white armor disappearing down a hall. "Idiots" he mumbled as he looked at the senseless marines strewn around on the ground "they were supposed to take down the intruder and they end up stunning each other silly" he ejected the stun rounds from his rifle and loaded in a cartridge of high velocity armor penetrating rounds that he always kept in his suit for just such an occasion "playtime's over" he said as he locked the cartridge and set the rifle from burst to full auto.

John finally managed to get the damaged mech into the air lock with a little help from Sarah and the ships tractor beam. As the airlock opened he climbed out and used the docking bay crane to haul the damaged mech out of the airlock and back into its dock station. "I am willing to bet my life I know just where that bastard is going to head." He said to himself remembering the Gencor shipment " and ill have a nasty surprise waiting for him " he murmured as he went across the mech storage bay to a mech docking station that was sealed by a large security door. The mech dock was nondescript except for the large security door on which was painted the words Reaper Mk5 above a image of 2 crossed scythes John allowed himself a smirk as he punched in his access code to the dock and began powering up the mech

The door to the cargo hold was even thicker than the airlock but just as easy to cut through. As she slowly pushed the door aside and stepped through she found herself staring not at the container she was after, but down the barrel of a high-powered railgun attached to a heavily armed battle mech.

John didn't know what the hell it was that he held at gunpoint it was humanoid but he couldn't recognize the species considering the power armor it was wearing. "Sarah, run a life form scan on the intruder he snapped"

"Scan complete. No definite match. Subject is of undocumented origin and species calculating closest possible match"

The basic body form of the creature looked vaguely familiar. John he was pretty sure he had seen it before.

"closest match identified" Sarah said "closest genetic match is that of Internecivus Raptus Praetoria"

"What! A fucking xenomorph ..SHIT" he yelled as the closest match was displayed on his computer terminal.

Cassandra lashed out with the armor's tail blade igniting the built in plasma cutter. "((Time to get rid of this annoyance))" she thought. She had been looking in the cockpit waiting for the pilot to look away for just long enough and then she struck.

With a loud screech of pain the creature fell to the ground, as the blade bounced off the mech's arm leaving nothing more than a large scratch. The plasma beam along the blade's edge had shattered just inches from the metal, sending small unstable and unfocused shards of superheated hydrogen gas ricocheting around the bay. The blade, now reduced to just a razor sharp piece of depleted uranium /titanium alloy simply didn't have the power to cut through the thick armor. John took the opportunity to grab the creature's tail with the mech's hydraulic grasping claw and hurl it against the far wall while simultaneously launching a volley of missiles at the still flying figure.

Lying in a pool of her own acid blood in too much pain to keep fighting, Cassandra was losing hope. "((How could I have been so stupid))" she thought giving herself a mental kick "((I should have known it was a new model….. Must be one of the mechs equipped for combat with yautja. I completely forgot about magnetic shielding. It must have disrupted the blade's electro magnetic focusing field just like it does with the bolts from a plasma caster.))"

Victor knew something was wrong the minute he heard the explosions and began running towards the cargo bay "((so much for taking it by surprise.))" thought victor "oh crap he breached the hull" he shouted as he saw a few blasted crates float by a window. "((thank god I evacuated the lower decks and vented the atmosphere ahead of time))" thought victor as he reached the broken door "((no telling what would have happened if the hold had been pressurized.))"

A sudden hissing noise caught Cassandra's attention. She looked to find that her armor was breached in several places and quickly leaking atmosphere. She immediately sealed her helmet which was still in tact, and cut off pressure to the rest of the suit. After a few seconds, she began to feel the vacuum on her body and moments later the bone numbing cold that came with it. It didn't really bother her that much but she knew that her reaction time would be slowed. Even with the armor covered in blood she was more worried about the crack in front of her helmet. "((The armor may be acid proof but if this crack gets any bigger))" she shuddered, remembering the first time she had decided to test her ability to survive in space.


	5. Xenos 0 Humans Negative 1

**Chapter 5**

**Xenos 0 / Humans –1**

Victor arrived to find the hold in ruins. A hydraulic hiss caught his attention and he turned to find a large reaper class battle mech standing in the middle of the hold. The hiss came from the canopy as the cockpit slid open a pilot stepped.

"Sorry Vic looks like you missed the party" said the pilot "hey by the way can you do me a favor and help me find the corpse I think it was blasted in that direction" he added pointing to a pile of blackened crates.

Even though the pilot's tinted visor was down, Victor didn't need to see his face to know it was Private John Saunders. "PLEASE tell me that the INTRUDER is the one who put the hole in that wall" said Victor angrily pointing toward the gaping void.

"…………………Well actually …………………… ummmm………………. You ….see ………..you know there's a funny story behind that hole" he said sheepishly.

"You really are hopeless" muttered Victor as he began picking through the debris looking for the intruder. "John I Don't think there is going to be anything left of him judging by the look of the hold"

"Hey what was that?" Asked John as he saw a box begin to move

"Holy shit he's still alive" replied Victor "I can't believe out of all those missiles you didn't even score one direct hit."

"He? You mean IT right…" Said John

"What are you talking about John"?

"You mean you didn't see it"

"No, the only thing I saw of the intruder was a glimpse of his leg as he ran around a corner since he was wearing what looked like ceramic polymer armor I naturally assumed that the intruder was a man"

Um Victor, the intruder isn't human, it's a xeno."

"WHAT," yelled Victor

"I said the intruder is a xeno," replied John "the scanner said that it was a praetorian but it looked way too small"

"So we have a still living praetorian over there" said Victor "I suggest you get back in the mech"

"About the mech" said John looking worried "I sorta shut down the reactor because I thought it was dead. It will take about 20 minutes to finish the cool down cycle and than another 10 minutes for the core temperature to reach the fusion threshold. I cant remember how long it takes for the reaction to stabilize and become self sustaining, but I am sure the thing will have already breached the cockpit and ripped us to shreds by that time.

Cassandra swore as the helmet cracked further and began slowly leaking air. "((I have to get back to my ship))" she thought as she stood up. She emitted a high pitch shriek and fell back to the ground clutching her thigh. She looked down to see that one of the ricocheting plasma fragments had burned a hole completely through her leg. She tried to swear in frustration, but never got the chance as the breath was sucked out of her by the vacuum of space. "((Damn it))" she thought as she felt her lungs collapse. "((Why did I get left with my human lungs))" she thought as her already agonized body began to feel the searing pain in her chest "((I have to get out of here))" she thought trying to stand up again.

"ITS GETTING UP" yelled John "DO SOMETHING VICTOR"

"I'M WORKING ON IT," screamed Victor fiddling with his rifle "I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO OIL THE MECHANISM BEFORE WE WERE BOARDED, THE RIFLE IS JAMMED"

"THAN JUST HIT IT" suggested Victor still yelling.

"ARE YOU INSANE IT WOULDN'T EVEN LET ME GET CLOSE"

"WELL IT IS UP AND LIMPING OUT THE DOOR" screamed John "IF WE LOOSE IT IN THE AIR DUCTS WELL NEVER FIND IT"

"FINE" said Victor swearing "BUT YOU HAD BETTER BE COVERING MY ASS"

As Victor snuck up on the creature he became less scared. It was barely able to stand, and was holding onto the wall for balance. "With the condition its is in, I can afford to have a little fun with it" said Victor grinning as he tapped the creature on the shoulder.

"((Just one more corridor to the ship))" she thought trying to give her the strength to keep moving. "((I can always try again later !WHAT THE HELL!))" Her thoughts were caught short as she felt a tap on her shoulder. She swung around to find herself facing the marine colonel she thought she had taken out. She tried to cut him in half with the razor sharp blade on her tail only to find that the marine had grabbed onto her tail so she couldn't hit him "nighty night dirtbag" he said, and the last thing Cassandra remembered was the butt of a pulse rifle crashing into her face. "((All the planning and I failed. Am I condemned to die a freak? Will I still be a freak in the afterlife? I can't even remember my own face. Even the memories of my family have dimmed.))" She thought as her mind began to fall into the dark void of unconsciousness "((GOD PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE LIKE THIS))" She prayed as the darkness took her.

"How the hell did this manage to happen" yelled the captain to the marine colonel "you were authorized only for stun weaponry and know I find out that the Reaper Mk 5 was not only utilized but half of our cargo was destroyed by some missile happy testosterone junkie. "

"With all due respect SIR" sneered Colonel Antonov "my men didn't even enter the mech storage unit let alone activate a weapon that could potentially destroy the whole ship"

"Then who is responsible"?

"Take a wild guess" scoffed the Colonel

Captain Saunders turned beet red and grabbed the intercom Mic almost accidentally ripping it from the wall socket.

"Private First Class Jonathan Will Saunders REPORT TO MY QUARTERS IMMEDITALY" roared the estranged voice of the captain through the intercom.

"((Great, my father saw the Mk5. Jesus Fricking Christ it was only a little scratch on the paint job why is he so mad. After all it was me who injured the intruder enough for it to be captured))" John thought as he made his way to his fathers quarters

Victor was worried he didn't care if it was possibly a new subspecies. It was still a Xeno "((Xeno a flipping xeno and they have it in a brig designed for human captives))" he thought as he made his way to the bridge to talk with the captain. About halfway to the bridge Victor began to hear yelling coming from the crew quarters hallway.

"IT IS NOT THE SCRATCH ON THE REAPER'S ARMOR THAT I AM ANGERY ABOUT" yelled the captain "BUT THE 60,000… 60 THOUSAND CREDITS WORTH OF DAMAGE YOU DID TO THE CARGO BAY"

"Really cause I thought the intruder would have destroyed the entire ship if I didn't to anything I just" replied John.

"((Oh I can't miss this))" thought Victor as he listened from the door "((about time the captain let that kid of his have it))"

"ACTUALLY YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN IT OUT WITH OUT USING ALL 20 MISSLES. YOU MISSED WITH EVERYTHING, THE MISSILES BREACHED THE HOLD AND EITHER BURNED OR SPACED HALF OF OUR CARGO. WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST HELP THE INTRUDER BLOW UP THE SHIP?" shouted the captain as he resumed his rant

"Speaking of the prisoner sir" the colonel interrupted stepping through the door "standard procedure for dealing with this type of creature is immediate termination and or stasis preservation until it can be delivered to a secure facility".

"UUmmmm Victor how long were you listening" asked a humiliated John

"I came in around the "you idiot do you have any idea how much damage you caused,"" replied the colonel.

"In other words pretty much the whole thing," said John

"Pretty much" said Victor "as I was saying we either need to terminate it or put it in a deep freeze until we can reach a secure facility"

"You know Victor" began the captain "maybe we should sedate it for the time being and let the science officer take a look at it before we decide what to do."

"Are you nuts Don," said Victor

"No Victor I am an opportunist" the captain replied "John said that it could be a new breed or possibly a new subspecies of I Raptus. If we simply give it to the research facility without any examination we may be giving away a fortune. Those scientists will pay astronomical amounts for new discoveries. If we have even a cursory medical scan on file that indicates that we discovered a new classification before they did. We will be entitled to a percentage of anything relating to this new species."

"BUT IT IS A XENOMORPH" shouted Victor

"WE NEED MONEY AFTER THE CARGO HOLD INCEDENT" retorted the captain

"Ummmm guys" interrupted John

"WHAT" snapped Victor and the captain simultaneously

"Can I be in charge of guarding the prisoner? I am the one who did most of the work capturing it, and I did take that advanced course on I. Raptus physiology at the academy."

"Whatever," replied the captain "only one condition"

"What?" asked John

"If it gives you any trouble Don't do anything stupid like walk into the cell trying to shoot it. Just get Victor to shoot it for you. Knowing you, if you try to kill it yourself, you'll wind up depressurizing the whole brig"

"Ha ha verrrrry funny" said John sarcastically.

The holo intercom beeped. "yes what is it?" asked the captain looking at the miniature holographic ensign who had appeared on his desk.

"Sir" the ensign replied, "the Xeno is beginning to wake up what should I do"

"Kill i----" began Victor.

"Ignore him," said the captain cutting off the colonel "just get the doctor to sedate it and bring it to the infirmary. Make sure you are wearing acid proof suits while handling it.

"Understood" said the ensign "out"

"Well John" said the captain as the projection vanished "looks like you get to go down and help the science staff."

"Common Dad you know all they are going to do is make me run all of the standard tests and type up the reports while they play around with the genetic samples." Said John "I have more important things to do"

"You mean like help the maintenance crew seal the hole in the cargo bay?" asked the captain

"I'm on my way to the infirmary," said John, quickly walking out of the room.


	6. New Species?

**Chapter 6**

**The New Species**

John was very disturbed by the prisoner. After confiscating the prisoner's armor, he had brought helped the guards drag the drugged creature to the infirmary for testing. Seeing as the head science officer was too busy drooling over the genetic samples muttering something about a winning a Nobel Prize, John, (being the only other person on the ship with any knowledge of I Raptus physiology) was left to run standard scans and write a brief medical report.

_Subject A2593 _

_Species: undetermined closest match is I. Raptus Praetoria _

_Height: 5'2"_

_Weight: 136 Lb_

_Status: Living - stable_

_Age: judging by size probably 3-4 years closer estimate not possible due to irregularities in exoskeleton and molting patterns._

_Gender: Female_

_Distinguishing marks: dark blue exoskeleton and a pale blue skin like structure over 50 percent of the body_

_Species conforms to standard physiology: NO. _

_Additional notes and recommendations:_

_Subject is possibly a new breed and or subspecies if I. Raptus. Beginning detailed analysis to determine cause of irregularities_

John looked up from his terminal at the figure tied to the table only to notice it was beginning to wake up again. He quickly drew up a needle and gave it another dose of anesthetic while turning up the breath mask dosage as well.

_Additional observation: Subject shows high resistance to numerous sedatives and anesthetics. Initial high dose injections of Valium did not keep the subject sedated for longer than 20 minutes despite the fact that she received 5 times the human LD50. Switched to Domatar injections this provided only slightly longer sedation but subject began to regain consciousness quickly. Abandoned sedatives and switched to high dose anesthetics. Failures with sodium pentothal, Ketamine, and Propovol proved nearly disastrous as these injections wore off after only several Minutes. Subject was finally anesthetized to the point where I could begin the scans after combining Isoflourine gas in the oxygen supply with high dose injections of Pentobarbital_

_Beginning CAT scan of head and neck: _

_The first set of images show that Skull structure is that of a standard praetorian save for two frontal ocular sockets. More abnormalities appear when you scan deeper. Below the exoskeletal skull plate is a layer of soft tissue. Past that another abnormality is present. The brain case is surrounded by a secondary endoskeletal bone structure resembling mammalian bone. Refer to P.E.T. scan for more information on brain structure. The jaw and mouth structure are abnormal. Although the subject's mouth has the standard praetorian tooth structure the addition of molars to the back of the jaw indicate this particular breed may possibly be omnivorous. The lip and Jaw structure has many similarities to that of a human. The tongue is the most interesting part. Although the tongue is configured like a standard praetorian with it's own set of secondary jaws, it has no bones or chitin segments and the teeth can be retracted allowing the tongue to assume a human like shape. The tongue's shape is held with tightly coiled muscle fibers and its shape can be easily changed. The larynx is also different from a standard praetorian. The vocal cords are composed of thin fluid filled membranes the creature apparently can adjust the pressure inside of the membrane changing the size and thickness of the flaps and in turn allowing the creature an incredible amount of control over the tone of it's voice. There is an indication that provided the subject has the intelligence to learn and it could not only pronounce human speech but by changing the shape of it's tongue and vocal cords could probably imitate accents, cultural differences, and even the exact tone of anyone's voice quite easily. The neck's skeletal structure has the same abnormalities as the skull. The exoskeleton plates are arranged like a normal praetorian save the fact that they are covered by a skin like structure._

A soft hiss coming from the creature alerted john that it was time for another anesthetic injection. "((I really need to set a timer))" he thought, watching the alien sink back into its drugged sleep "((if it had woken up and I wasn't paying attention I'd be dead right now))"

_Underneath the chitin plates there is another example of mammalian bone structure. The creature seems to have both an exo and endo skeletal system._

_Brief full body x-rays confirmed my theory. The creature's exoskeletal and musculature structure matches that of a praetorian while the endoskeletal structure is similar to that of a human save for a modified pelvis and the additional vertebrae of the tail. Notes on skeletal structure complete no need for further bone scans _

John knew he was being lazy, but bones didn't interest him much. In fact he considered running these medical scans to be menial labor, he still didn't know why basic medical training was a requirement of all ship personnel. Despite these aversions John was actually anxious to learn more about this creature, if for no other reason his curiosity. He rolled the table with the alien on it into the P.E.T scanner and began to take scans of the internal organ structure.

_Subject's internal organ structure is unlike anything observed in standard praetorian anatomy. The majority of the internal structure appears to have a similar configuration to that of a normal human. Similarities to praetorian are minimal but include a 5 chambered heart enlarged lungs and modified digestive tract and liver._

_Additional Note: modifications to liver and kidneys may explain the subject's ability to break down the sedatives so quickly._

_Though the subject is not a queen, the reproductive system appears fully developed and fully functional save for the lack of the glands that allow formation of an egg sack. Possibility of live birth functionality. _

_Said trait unheard of in the standard I. Raptus Praetoria and or the I. Raptus Regina subspecies._

_Brain structure is arranged like that of a human but with the addition of 3 additional lobes growing out from the vision, olfactory, and memory centers of the brain may indicate enhancements in these areas. Brain wave activity appears similar to that of a standard human. _

_Subject confirmed as new sub classification of I. Raptus. Naming will be held until genetic analysis is complete._

"Finally that is over wit…….. Oh ….. Shit" john looked up from the finished report to find that the restraints had been broken and the creature had disappeared.

"This had better be important John," said victor as he looked at the hologram

"It is very important. You might want to get down here as fast as you can" he said stepping aside revealing the empty table "and bring the whole armory with you please"

"YOU LET IT ESCAPE" roared Victor

"I DIDN'T LET IT ESCAPE I HAD IT DOPPED UP ON ENOUGH ANESTHETIC TO KILL 10 ELEPHANTS" John screamed back

"THAN HOW DID IT JUST GET UP AND SLIP AWAY?"

"Well I am almost afraid to suggest it but I think it was resistant to the most recent dose and just pretended to be asleep. We have one smart bastard. The brain is a lot more developed that the average drone"

"JOHN LOOK OUT" screamed Victor as he watched the tail wrap around john's neck with the blade right up against the jugular.

"((Fuck))" thought Cassandra. She had never seen a human with such reflexes before. In less than a second he had drawn his pistol and brought it to bare right between her eyes.

"Stale mate" said John smugly as he cocked the pistol. "Ok you can kill me with a twitch and I can kill you with a pull of my finger….. Where do we go from here?"

"JOHN" yelled victor as he kicked in the infirmary door.

"Victor what the hell are we going to do?" asked the captain running in behind him

"Shut up Don, don't surprise it" snapped victor "startle either one of them and well wind up with one huge mess on our hands"

"Well if we don't do something it is only a matter of time before one of them slips up." Whispered the captain.

"Fine ill just take them both," said victor taking a shock grenade and setting the dial to max.

"Sorry John" said the captain

"Huh" said john looking at his father than down at the small metal sphere that had rolled to a stop by his feet "oh son of a bit" he was cut off in mid sentence by a flash of blue lightning and blacked out


	7. Shocking Revelations

**Chapter 7**

**"!Shocking!" Revelations**

"Ahhhh that hurts" yelled John in the infirmary as the medical staff changed the bandages on his burnt body " Victor why did you have to use that stun grenade on max power I was standing there too you know"

Victor smirked and John could tell he was enjoying this "well I didn't know what the threshold was for a Xenomorph so better to be safe and leave you with minor electrical burns, than to use a weak grenade and have that thing get pissed and splatter you all over the wall." Said the Colonel patting John on the back, making sure he hit one of the more severe burns in the process

"uurrnn By the way what happened to the alien?" asked John flinching as victor patted his burned back.

"Oh it woke up five minutes after the blast but we locked her back in the cell before than" victor replied.

"What! Those stunners on full are supposed to be able to knock out a full grown Yautja for 3 hours"

"Oh by the way" the colonel said sarcastically "Remember how your father said that if you wanted to keep it, was your responsibility to watch it…… and walk it, and feed it, and house train it, and …." Victor never got the chance to finish.

"What" said John "do you actually think I am keeping it as a pet. You saw how much damage it did to the ship"

"Oh really the alien did that" retorted Victor "because you see, I thought the damage was caused by the captain's delinquent son while he was playing around with a 5 million credit death machine"

"Just shut up" muttered John

"Fine have it your way? " said the colonel giving John slap right on his burnt back

"AAhhhhh get back here that's not funny"

Victor chuckled to himself as he walked away from the steady stream of curses that flowed from the open infirmary door.

Cassandra awoke to find herself in a small white cell in the Balder's Brig "((no problem))" she thought "((this door cant be more than 2 inches thick))" even though all of her weapons and armor, except for the jumpsuit she had been wearing on the ship, had been removed. She still could use her blood to burn through the door's lock. Cassandra was just about to cut her wrist when she noticed a familiar smell. "((damn those humans are smart))" she thought as she put her nose to the door lock, and than to the floor. She recognized the chemical smell from when she was putting the final layers of polymer on her armor. "((MXAR-42 enamel completely acid proof. They spray coated the whole cell with it.))" She thought as she walked back to the cot and sat down. Suddenly movement outside the window caught her eyes … well her other visual senses at least. The view port was mirrored in the standard spectrum but she could see through it in other spectrums. She recognized him immediately from her three previous encounters "((I can't believe it))" she thought studying the young private "((bested by low ranking human, and a kid nonetheless))" this of course was hypocritical seeing as Cassandra herself was only 16 when she began her freelance career and seeing how they were both about the Same age at the moment. Her human part knew this, but her alien side was thinking it since xenomorphs matured and learned at a much faster rate than humans one of the advantages she had gained although currently 18 she held more knowledge than most people over 40 would have attained.

Cassandra was fuming. A simple operation turned disaster all because she underestimated these peoples abilities "((no wonder this ship has a flawless track record))" she thought as she made the first incision with her tail. Cassandra grimaced from the pain as she reached into the cut to retrieve her emergency locator beacon implant "((I just hope it was acid proof))" she prayed as she removed the small cylinder from the wound not in the least bit surprised that even the bed sheets refused to be burned when drops of blood hit them. "((damn they're thorough))".

Cassandra knew that her father thought she had been killed. After all, the science facility where she was being instructed in advanced genetic and cybernetic engineering was overrun when the containment systems on one of its captive Xenomorph hives had failed. Everyone died in the attack including her mother, sister and the older of her 2 brothers whom were receiving the same education. Although her father was the one who arranged for his family to be educated by the top minds in the new colonies, She never blamed him for her present condition. He could not have known. And to a powerful fleet admiral like him self, he was using his influence to provide for them just like any father would. "I wish there was another way," Cassandra sighed as she pulled open the beacon's casing and activated the transmitter. "It would be better for him to think of me as dead… but if I don't get out of here soon, they'll kill me. "

John was puzzled. Ever since he had been put in charge of guarding the alien, he noticed that it was spending less and less time trying to escape like it had been doing the first 2 weeks and had become almost docile. "((Yeah right))" thought John as he shrugged off the absurd thought remembering the incident with the stun grenade. He began to notice that his hatred and fear of the creature was fading. The longer he observed it, the more quirks and inconsistencies in Xenomorph behavior emerged, and the more human it seemed to act…. Or at least to him. Although he was no longer scared about holding such a dangerous creature… he did have the unsettling feeling that the thing was studying him back despite the fact that he knew the window was a two-way mirror.

Onboard the seraphim, flag ship for the 53rd new colonial fleet. Admiral Kenneth Miller looked at the ensign as if trying to disbelieve what he was hearing.

"No Sir" the ensign restated for the 3rd time "this is not a hoax. Your daughter's emergency beacon has just been activated.

"Do you have any idea what will happen to the person responsible if this turns out to be a prank?" stated the admiral his most serious and threatening tone.

"Well sir" muttered the ensign nervously "I can take a guess. But there is no way you are going to get me to do it for you." he said taking a worried glance toward the airlock and crossing himself

"For goodness sakes Paul." Said the admiral "what kind of monster do you think I am…. Demotion at best, public humiliation at worst but murder"

"Sorry, I am just a bit paranoid after that other airlock incident"

The admiral hated the rumors that he had flushed one of his friends out into space because he had had an argument with him. He couldn't disprove the rumors without facing a court martial. The truth was that the military chose his friend for a covert assignment that required people to think he was dead. So his friend had rigged the airlock to blowout while he was doing maintenance at which point he was simply picked up by a waiting stealth ship and shipped off to his next mission. The argument people heard about, was him trying to convince his friend not to accept the assignment.

"For the 10'Th time I wasn't even on the ship when it happened. The fact that he died after having an argument with me is what led to these crazy rumors. Besides, I save the airlock for traitors, and mutineers not petty squabbles. So, where is the signal coming from?" asked the admiral

"Looks like a freighter on the outskirts of the alpha Draconis system it appears to be heading toward the gamma prime subspace jump node"

"Call the rest of the fleet and tell them to head toward the nearest jump node to gamma prime and set up a blockade….. If she is still alive I want her found"

"You know with all due respect sir," said the ensign " aren't you going a bit over board? I mean after seeing that station and the degree to which the xenos had infested it…. I am afraid that you may holding onto a false hope"

"Maybe, but any hope is enough for me… and remember we only found the bodies of my wife, Lisa, and Sam…. though there wasn't much left of him when the team found him. That leaves possibility that Cassandra and Jason are still alive."

"Or still being happily digested by one of the drones" muttered the ensign under his breath

"I HEARD THAT!"

"Sorry" apologized the ensign "ill notify the captain immediately to change course"

250 lightyears away, Cassandra tucked the transmitter into her pocket and went across her small cell where she laid down on the cot. It was hard and lumpy, but after 5 days of non-stop action, she couldn't complain. As soon as she fell asleep she found herself trapped in her memories.

/P 

**Thats the end of Alien Shadow part 1. figured i'd leave my first story as a cliff hanger. please send me reviews and expect the first chapter of Alien shadow part 2 "Rough Childhood" When ever i can get it transfered from my note book ((yes i still use pen and paper)) onto my computer. My apologys but i have no idea when i am going to get this done. final exams are comming up and i wont have mutch time to work on this **


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